Paper Reports Girl, 11, Raped When Family Killed Prosecutor Says Killing Of 5, Suicide Remains ‘Just A Mystery’
Authorities suspect that Denise McCoy’s oldest daughter was raped when the family was murdered at a rural home June 11.
The Times-News, citing sources familiar with the investigation, also reported Tuesday that authorities theorize drawings found in the home northwest of Shoshone may hint that Genevieve King, 11, previously was sexually molested by her killer and had been threatened with death.
McCoy and her four children were shot to death in the home they were sharing with McCoy’s fiance, Dean Barney III.
Walter Schoolcraft, a bachelor sharecropper and friend of Barney’s, died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound the same night, while sitting alone in a disabled pickup parked on his farm 3-1/2 miles from Barney’s house.
A shell casing in the pickup matched those found in the house, investigators have reported.
Neighbors said Schoolcraft had baby-sat the McCoy children.
Lincoln County Prosecutor Brit Groom said on Monday that authorities may never fully understand the reason behind the killings.
“It’s still just a mystery,” Groom said.
But he said no evidence contradicts investigators’ initial theory that Schoolcraft killed McCoy and her children, then himself.
Officials have found no history of sexual assault by Schoolcraft, Groom said.
But sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Times-News that Genevieve King’s body was found in a position that indicated to investigators she had been sexually assaulted.
All four children - Genevieve; Jordan King, 10; Chelsea King, 8; and Adrianna McCoy, 2 - were wearing pajamas, and each was shot in the head, the county coroner has said.
Groom said he would not announce investigators’ theories about Schoolcraft’s possible motive until more test results are available from evidence collected at the shootings.
The prosecutor did not confirm whether investigators found drawings, but said such drawings could be open to numerous interpretations.